Until You Met Me

“Where do you want me to put the food?”

Molly, who’d been slipping her coat off of her shoulders, jumped slightly at the sound of Gerard’s voice before she turned to look at him, earning a lopsided and nervous smile from him. They were both nervous. Despite the progress that they had made the previous night, Molly’s announcement that they still needed to talk had left them both thinking about what they wanted to say to one another, and it meant that the happy bubble that they had been in when they had woken up that morning had burst, leaving behind something that felt a little awkward. It was never going to be seamless. Gerard had hurt Molly, and as much as she wanted to make things work between them again, it wasn’t something that was just going to disappear, but she was optimistic that they could figure it out. She was optimistic that they both wanted to figure it out.

“Where would you normally put food, Gerard?” Molly quipped, smiling shyly.

Gerard ducked his head, letting out a slightly bashful laugh. “I meant, do you want to eat now or should I just put it in the kitchen so that we can talk?” he asked.

Molly tucked her hair behind her ear, thinking the question over for a moment, before she shook her head, offering him another bashful grin. “I’m not really hungry right at this moment” she answered “But if you are...”

“I’ll be fine” Gerard interrupted “I’ll just go and put this down and then we can talk, OK?” he asked.

Molly nodded, allowing Gerard to walk up the hall towards the kitchen, before she turned and walked into the living room. Wandering towards the sofa, she rubbed her hands over her face before she sat down, watching the doorway until Gerard appeared in it, flashing her another uncertain smile. He didn’t make a move to step towards her, something which caused Molly to sigh before she sat back, her fingers fidgeting with the bottom of the jumper she wore. “I just want to know what you want, Gerard” she said gently “That’s all this is” she added.

Gerard fidgeted where he stood, one of his hands rubbing at his jaw nervously. “I want you” he said.

“What do you want from me?” Molly prodded tentatively.

“Molly...”

“I just want you to be honest with me” Molly interrupted, cutting off his soft protest “I just want to know what you’re thinking. I need to know what this is for you. I don’t want you to just say that you want what I want. I want to know what you want, Gerard. Can you tell me? Please?” she added, looking up at him pleadingly.

Gerard held her stare for a long moment, his eyes searching hers, before he finally crossed the room and crouched down ahead of her. “I was scared of what this could be” he said “And I am still scared of what it could be, but I am more scared of losing you, and not just for a few days next time. I...I want you, Molly. I want you to be in my life, but more than that, I want to be the one you wake up next to in the morning and fall asleep next to at night. I want you to keep using my spare key to let yourself in when you feel like it. I want us to be together, and whilst I think it is too soon to start talking about...about the big stuff, I want you to know that I would be happy to think about it with you. Does that answer the question?” he asked, offering her a slightly wobbly smile.

He knew that he should have said it sooner. He knew that it was what he ought to have said the night that things had gone wrong between them, but he had allowed himself to get overwhelmed, a feeling that had only receded when Poppy had shown up and pointed out that how Molly felt about him wasn’t anything new. They had always been important to one another, and whilst the labels on what they were to one another had changed, the fact that they were important to each other hadn’t, and Gerard wasn’t about to let being scared about what they could be stop them, especially when he was more scared of losing her.

For a moment, Molly stared down at their intertwined fingers, before she slowly lifted her head, offering him a smile that was just as shaky as his. “It...It’s very a good answer” she spluttered, a slightly hiccuped laugh falling out of her mouth.

Gerard couldn’t stop his expression from brightening, something which made Molly laugh again, her hand gently squeezing his. “I don’t think we made a mistake” he insisted “I know I hesitated, and I know how bad that looked, but I just...I don’t think I could be happy just being your friend again. I struggled with it before. Watching you fall in love with Tiago was...I hated it, and I know that I would hate it even more now that I have let myself fall in love with you” he explained.

Molly marvelled at him, a tearful smile still playing on her face.

“I have something for you” Gerard continued.

“What?” Molly asked.

Gerard flashed her a grin before he jumped back to his feet, disappearing into the hall for a few moments before he padded back towards her, extending a hand out ahead of himself.

Molly tilted her head, her smile growing slightly confused. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Put your hand out” Gerard instructed.

Molly hesitantly held a hand out ahead of herself. “I swear, if you propose to me, I will kick you” she quipped.

Gerard dramatically rolled his eyes. “Do you think my proposal would be this understated?” he asked.

Molly scoffed playfully. “If it happens, it’s going to be ridiculous, isn’t it?” she asked.

Gerard lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug, causing Molly to laugh again, before he lowered his hand, lowering a cool piece of metal onto her palm.

Molly drew her hand back, studying the key for a second, before she lifted her eyes to mirror his again. “Is this what I think it is?” she asked.

“Your key? Yeah” Gerard confirmed “Want to keep letting yourself into my house, just to listen to me complain about it?” he asked, his voice caught somewhere between impish and nervous.

Molly turned the key over in her hand a couple of times before she finally leant forwards, wrapping him in a tight hug as she nodded against his shoulder. “I would love that” she murmured.